Help with a Fleshwarper

[Telonius]

I'm trying to put together a Fleshwarper NPC, but am running into a few snags on the build. The concept is that the character is a nurse working next to a surgeon or low-level Cleric (who has no idea she's getting into some some forbidden research). She becomes enamored with the ideas of improving people's bodies through Necromancy and grafting, or eventually restoring life to the dead (without recourse to the gods). So, your basic Victor Frankenstein type, imagined as a nurse. I've checked out a few (incomplete) Fleshwarper handbooks, but none of them seem to post a sample build.

My problem? Those prereqs. 8 ranks of Knowledge Arcana, Graft Flesh (which requires Heal 10), and a familiar. Fleshwarper already loses a caster level, so I'd really rather not lose any others just for qualifying. Dread Necromancer would seem to be ideal, but it lacks Heal as a class skill. Wizard doesn't have it either. Cleric doesn't get a Familiar. Ranger (with Education and that cityscape thing that trades his companion for a familiar) would work for the skills, but you can't really go Necromancy as a Ranger; you can't really do it as an Adept either. I'm aware of Skill Knowledge, but that fact that it was specifically designed to be used with an alternate skill system kind of puts me off. So, is there anything for it, or do I just need to suck it up and lose another caster level on a Dread Necromancer chassis?

[Malimar]

Fleshwarper is really nasty to qualify for. The easiest I've found is a sorcerer with the proper Draconic Heritage feat to get Heal as a class skill.

That said, cleric 1 is one of the best dips out there. Pick a couple relevant domains and you're good to go. Necromancer domain, for example, gives you +1 caster level for necromancy spells, which helps soothe the sting of the lost caster level, and Deathbound lets you control half again as many undead with animate dead, which could be worth it even if you didn't need to pick up Heal as a class skill.

(I've been toying with the idea of a warlock/fleshwarper (getting the familiar through Obtain Familiar, which I'm 95% sure warlock qualifies for), but there's no easy way to get Heal as a class skill on warlock, so that build needs a cleric dip, too.)

[Telonius]

Thanks for the reply! I'd seen the Sorcerer possibility. Mechanically workable, but it didn't really mesh with the character concept. I was thinking of Egoist Psion if a dip was absolutely necessary. Things like Attraction and Conceal Thoughts would both be something that sort of character ought to have. Cloistered Cleric at first was the other thing I'd been thinking about, mainly for the skill points.

[Amphetryon]

Glimmerskin Halflings get Heal as a Class Skill, regardless of Class. That makes them among the best Fleshwarper candidates, in general.